Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id XAA00497; Mon, 8 Dec 1997 23:39:02 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 8 Dec 1997 23:39:02 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <199712090439.XAA00497@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V17 #344 TELECOM Digest Mon, 8 Dec 97 23:39:00 EST Volume 17 : Issue 344 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #111, December 8, 1997 (Angus TeleManagement) Re: Radio Modem For WAN and Serial Port Communication (Jack Daniel) Re: Radio Modem For WAN and Serial Port Communication (Ronald Young) Re: Competition Heats Up in Canada For PCS (J.F. Mezei) Re: MCI Cancels Toll-Free Service in California (Lee Winson) Let Local Competitors Build Their Own Local Loop Plant (Lee Winson) Remembering "Information Please..." (amp@pobox.com) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@telecom-digest.org * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: Post Office Box 4621 Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 847-727-5427 Fax: 773-539-4630 ** Article submission address: editor@telecom-digest.org ** Our archives are available for your review/research. 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Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 08 Dec 1997 11:11:36 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #111, December 8, 1997 ************************************************************ * * * TELECOM UPDATE * * Angus TeleManagement's Weekly Telecom Newsbulletin * * http://www.angustel.ca * * Number 111: December 8, 1997 * * * * Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by * * generous financial support from: * * * * Bell Canada ................. http://www.bell.ca/ * * City Dial Network Services .. http://www.citydial.com/ * * Computer Talk Technology .... http://icescape.com/ * * fONOROLA .................... http://www.fonorola.com/ * * Lucent Technologies ......... http://www.lucent.com/ * * * ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** CRTC Rejects Mandated Wireless Resale ** Newbridge Cuts Back UB Networks ** Videotron Sells Alberta Cable Network ** MetroNet IPO Oversubscribed ** Comment Sought on Telco/Competitor Relationship ** MTS Provides Personal Change-of-Number Message ** Cantel Completes $100 Million Alberta Buildout ** Clearnet PCS Launches in Ottawa ** NBTel Extends Multimedia Service ** Bell Teams With Danish Firm for Network Management ** Bell Upgrades Rural Service With Wireless ** TMI, American Mobile Satellite to Share MSAT-1 ** Fonorola Opens Office in Victoria ** TeleBermuda Forms Venture for Cross-Atlantic Fiber ** TSB Third-Quarter Results ** Internet Provided Free to Non-Profits ** Telemanagement, Telecom Update Post Web Links ============================================================ CRTC REJECTS MANDATED WIRELESS RESALE: CRTC Telecom Order 97-1797 reaffirms the Commission's 1991 decision not to require wireless companies to allow resale of their services. The Commission says that mandating resale would reverse its decision to forbear from regulating wireless. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/TELECOM/ORDER/1997/O971797_.TXT NEWBRIDGE CUTS BACK UB NETWORKS: Newbridge Networks has eliminated 280 of the 600 positions at its UB Networks unit. UB's sales have declined sharply since it was bought by Newbridge in December 1996. (See Telecom Update #107) VIDEOTRON SELLS ALBERTA CABLE NETWORK: Videotron has sold its 150,000-subscriber cable network in Alberta to Winnipeg- based Moffat Communications for $295 Million. Videotron will use the proceeds to build its Quebec telecom business. METRONET IPO OVERSUBSCRIBED: Shares of MetroNet Communications began trading December 4, after its Initial Public Offering brought in $172.5 Million. Three days earlier, MetroNet connected its first Quebec customer, a unit of QuebecTel, to its Montreal network. COMMENT SOUGHT ON TELCO/COMPETITOR RELATIONSHIP: CRTC Telecom Public Notice 97-40 seeks comment on amending the telcos' Terms of Service regarding relationships with their competitors, particularly with respect to liability for service disruptions. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/TELECOM/NOTICE/1997/P9740_0.TXT MTS PROVIDES PERSONAL CHANGE-OF-NUMBER MESSAGE: Customers of Manitoba Telecom Services can now provide a personal message when they move, telling callers their new number and other information. Customized Intercept costs $5/month. CANTEL COMPLETES $100 MILLION ALBERTA BUILDOUT: Ninety-three percent of Alberta's population now has access to Rogers Cantel's wireless PCS service. Cantel has completed the $100-Million first stage of its digital buildout in the province. CLEARNET PCS LAUNCHES IN OTTAWA: Clearnet Communications extended its digital PCS service to the Ottawa-Hull region December 1. NBTEL EXTENDS MULTIMEDIA SERVICE: NBTel's Vibe Internet and multimedia service, which transmits at up to 4.3 Mbps, is now available in parts of Saint John and Moncton. (See Telecom Update #47) BELL TEAMS WITH DANISH FIRM FOR NETWORK MANAGEMENT: The IS Technologies division of Bell Emergis has agreed with Denmark-based GN Nettest to jointly develop telecom network surveillance and data management products. BELL UPGRADES RURAL SERVICE WITH WIRELESS: Bell Canada has brought single-line service to 100 rural customers near Chatham, Ontario, using Nortel's Proximity I fixed wireless unit. (See Telecom Update #73) TMI, AMERICAN MOBILE SATELLITE TO SHARE MSAT-1: TMI Communications, a BCE-controlled partnership, has sold a half interest in its MSAT-1 satellite to American Mobile Satellite. AMS will lease out the companion satellite, MSAT- 2, to provide service in southern Africa. FONOROLA OPENS OFFICE IN VICTORIA: Fonorola has opened an office in Victoria to serve its Vancouver Island customers. TELEBERMUDA FORMS VENTURE FOR CROSS-ATLANTIC FIBER: TeleBermuda International, headed by Canadian telecom entrepreneur Michael Kedar, has formed a joint venture with Global Crossing Limited to build and operate a cross- Atlantic fiber ring. TSB THIRD-QUARTER RESULTS: TSB International reports net income of $2.46 Million for the nine months ending October 31, a 3% increase over last year. Revenues fell 7% to $21.3 Million. INTERNET PROVIDED FREE TO NON-PROFITS: On December 7, iComm completed the first year of its work providing free Internet access and support to Canadian non-profit, charitable, and community organizations. http://www.iComm.ca TELEMANAGEMENT, TELECOM UPDATE POST WEB LINKS: Web links for organizations mentioned in Telemanagement and Telecom Update can now be found in our Telecom Resources links library. New links are posted the day each issue is published. ** Angus TeleManagement's Telecom Resources is an up-to-date listing of more than 400 useful Web resources for telecom professionals in Canada. ** Go to http://www.angustel.ca/links/links.html ** To subscribe to Telemanagement, call 1-800-263-4415 ext 225 or go to http://www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm-sub.html ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week. Point your browser to www.angustel.ca and then select TELECOM UPDATE from the Main Menu. 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to majordomo@angustel.ca. The text of the message should contain only the two words: subscribe update To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to majordomo@angustel.ca. The text of the message should say only: unsubscribe update [Your e-mail address] =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER: All contents copyright 1997 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 228. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ============================================================ ------------------------------ From: Jack Daniel Subject: Re: Radio Modem For WAN and Serial Port Communication Date: Sun, 07 Dec 1997 04:53:54 -0800 Organization: EarthLink Network, Inc. Reply-To: jdaniel@earthlink.net Kurt Miller wrote: > I am looking for two different products for two different > applications: > 1. I am looking for a radio link product that can be used to extend a > terminal port (low speed serial either 9600 or 19.2K) to a remote > location about two miles away. I need the capability of one or several > terminal ports. These will be connected to a unix box (probably Sun > Ultra) at one end and simple terminals at the other. > 2. I am looking for a low to medium speed radio link for a WAN > application. I am looking at speeds of 19.2K or slightly faster. I > need something that is relatively affordable on a per/port basis and > operates in either S-band or L-band. Does anyone have recomendations > as to products they have used in the past that are reliable / easy to > set up? You may want to contact FreeWave at 303-444-3862 or go to their web site at www.freewave.com. They have 1200 - 115,000 kbs spread spectrum radio modems with RS 232 ports. These are one watt output (max. legal limit) for long range use. ------------------------------ From: Ronald Young Subject: Re: Radio Modem For WAN and Serial Port Communication Date: Mon, 08 Dec 1997 17:15:17 -0800 Organization: EarthLink Network, Inc. Kurt Miller wrote: > I am looking for two different products for two different > applications: Take a look at: http://www.cylink.com/external/products.nsf/pages/Wireless+Products?OpenDocument I have no idea what their prices are, but generally, this type of stuff is not real cheap. -ron- ------------------------------ From: J.F. Mezei <"[non-spam]jfmezei"@videotron.ca> Subject: Re: Competition Heats Up in Canada For PCS Date: Mon, 08 Dec 1997 13:32:28 -0500 Organization: VTL Reply-To: "[non-spam]jfmezei"@videotron.ca Mike Federchuk wrote: > My AT&T rep says that their network will not support Canada-wide GSM > until December of 1998. A year is too long to wait. We are > considering chaning out 20-30 analog phones for the new 9000i. AT&T > will have to be _very_ price competitive to have us stay. Better > products from Fido and better pricing may be what is driving > AT&T to change their pricing structure. The Nokias9000s are basicaly PSION pocket computers with a phone built in. They have been available in europe for a while. Is AT&T going to support GSM on its own network? I thought they were a CDMA&S only shop? In all fairness, FIDO does not CURRENTLY (yet) support DATA services on their GSM network, but it is coming soon. They do support SMS and last I heard, they will VERY SOON offer computer-to-SMS capabilities. Right now, they offer phone-to-SMS(send message from your phone to another phone) or voice-to-SMS (toalk to a person who sends message for you). ------------------------------ From: lwinson@bbs.cpcn.com (Lee Winson) Subject: Re: MCI Cancels Toll-Free Service in California Date: 9 Dec 1997 01:49:11 GMT Organization: The PACSIBM SIG BBS > MCI is telling local phone customers in California that, effective > January 1, they will no longer enjoy the cheap, flat phone rates that > lured many to switch from Pacific Bell. > Last fall, MCI began marketing a service plan that let new customers > place unlimited calls anywhere within a large region for $24.95 a > month. This event annoys me greatly in ways beyond the obvious "bait and switch" false advertising MCI has done here to attract customers. When MCI was starting out, if AT&T reduced its rates, even to a point where it lost money, it could've killed MCI right then because MCI didn't have the resources to fight a long money-losing rate war. But had AT&T done so, MCI would've cried foul and sued AT&T for anti-trust violations. But why is it now legal for MCI to pull such tactics? Now MCI is an established national company, pulling these tactics against a regional Bell company. MCI could easily afford the losses by this tactic. If a regional Bell company tried this tactic in face of a new competitor, wouldn't there be hell to pay? Also, we know that many customers, while disappointed by the rate loss, won't bother changing back. At one time the telephone industry had a solid repuation for integrity and honesty. The old Bell System may have been bland, bureaucratic, and boring, but their standard of service and the state PUCs watching them kept things above board. With tactics like this, eventually consumers will look at the telephone companies in the same light as they do, say, used car dealers. Do people in the industry really want to end up this way? US national policy is to encourage competition in the telephone busines. But don't we want fair and HONEST competition? Don't we want ALL competitors to play by the rules? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We've always known about MCI's penchant for stretching the truth at the very least and coming out with downright lies at the worst. Remember, some of us really old-time people have dealt with MCI going way back to the early 1970's when they were first starting out and had a single long distance bypass offering called 'Execunet'. Anyone remember Execunet besides me? I had an account on it; in fact I recommended it to a few people in the very early days. In those days their standard lie was that using Execunet instead of AT&T long distance would save you some percentage of the cost of long distance calls. An early television commercial had some fool saying this and then scratching his head and wondering 'why anyone wouldn't want to save money on their phone bill ...' as if him saying so and MCI selling the service resolved it completely. Their very first lie was in 1969 when they lied to the Illinois Commerce Commission and (the former) Illinois Bell Telephone Company telling them they wanted to build a microwave transmission network between Chicago and St. Louis 'for a few private customers'. When ICC finally approved the application over IBT's objections, MCI then immediatly began reselling the service to everyone. Regards Execunet and MCI 'forgetting' to mention that calls to their switch were supervised and billed as local calls (thus for every small decrease in long distance charges as a result of using MCI there was a corresponding -- or larger -- increase in local call charges which had to be paid to IBT) -- well, MCI had to get sued a couple times before they finally leveled with people. There were lots of complaints -- formal and informal -- filed with the FCC about MCI in those days, and not just by telcos crying sour grapes as you might expect, but by large customers as well whom MCI had lured away from Bell with promises which rang hollow. You are right about how the telco -- when it was all one telco -- 'used to be'. They were extremely dedicated, albiet very bureaucratic and authoritarian. They did keep things working smoothly. Today, the entire industry is starting to get a bad reputation. PAT] ------------------------------ From: lwinson@bbs.cpcn.com (Lee Winson) Subject: Let Local Competitors Build Their Own Local Loop Plant Date: 9 Dec 1997 01:58:20 GMT Organization: The PACSIBM SIG BBS After reading the MCI sleaze post I had a thought: To be truly fair in local telephone competition, let's make it TRUE competition. Let each player build their own local loop plant and central office facilities. This will eliminate debates over reimbursements to Bell companies for providing the local loop and fights over equipment problems. The cable TV industry had to build their own outdoor plant. Actually, it isn't as hard as years ago as fiber optic mean stringing a lot less wire through a neighborhood. But the newcomers will have to meet the same standards that Bell companies now meet to provide service. They'll have to wire ALL neighborhoods and offer service to everyone, even high deadbeat slum areas. Banks are forbidden to "redline" slum areas and must provide branch offices in them, so there is precedent for this in competitive industries. (All businesses, no matter how competitive, must conform to various retail service laws and regulations, for example, supermarkets using automatic register scanners must see that prices are clearly marked on shelves, and gas stations must clearly post per-gallon prices.) Let the newcomers see what it's like to negotiate franchises with local municipalities, easements, and the like. Let them get their trucks out in hurricanes and tornados to restore downed wire in the middle of the night. Let's see who restores service the fastest after a storm. For all we know, the newcomers might beat the old Bell System hands down. Maybe new technologies will allow loop to go in fast and cheap, easier to maintain than the old copper cable now in place, saving them and their customers money. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But I was saying this same thing back in 1983 and Lord knows how many times since in this Digest. Remember of course that Judge Harold Greene had his noise out of joint to start with where AT&T was concerned. He made no pretense of having a fair 'trial' or proceedings and early on before the divestiture case even came to court he let it be known among his cronies in the US Injustice Department that if they wanted to 'take on Bell' they'd find his courtroom a friendly venue. So the story goes, he lost a dime in a payphone and got sassed by the operator when he asked about a refund; he went away angry and detirmined to break up their monopoly. Seriously, AT&T did not stand a fighting chance in front of him. Some will no doubt write to remind me that AT&T did 'voluntarily' sign off on the deal, but if having a knife in your back and a gun at your head permits you to respond 'voluntarily' it is news to me. Had the good judge *really* wanted fairness, a level playing field for competitors, and consumer choice and all that, he would have ordered just what you suggest: let them spend at least a decade or two installing outside plant, installing switches, signing up customers slowly and surely, etc. Remember, it took Bell a hundred years to get where they were at at that point in time. The judge would have required that local municipalities not interfere with the wiring so that in the event the local executives of Bell belonged to the same golf club or church as the mayor and councilmen there would be no artificial objections tossed in the way of wiring via municipal fiat, etc. He would have required that state commissions from that day forward treat the newcomers and Bell equally. He would have insisted that Bell make no other requirements for interconnection except technical ones, and that Bell cooperate completely with billing, clearing house and back office functions, number assignments, etc. Then he would have said good luck, in a few years when you are in a position to operate a telephone network come back and see me. I will then order Bell to open the front door of their central office, hand you a bunch of pairs to be used for interconnection, and require that whatever they do for their own companies and divisions they also do for you at the same prices, etc. But you see, the newcomers in the industry were in no position nor were they inclined to spend the time and money Bell did over a century to build the best phone network in the world; they just wanted to rip off some of the profits for themselves. Nor, might I add, was Harold Greene inclined to be fair. He hated AT&T with a passion, and was detirmined to screw them every way possible. I only wish AT&T had kept the fight going; I am sure they would have eventually won. They should have used the 'IBM approach to pending litigation' ... remember how when IBM found itself in much the same predicament as Bell, its response was to bury the court and the prosecutor with truckloads -- literally tons -- of paperwork. Millions of internal memos, worksheets and other stuff was entered into evidence by IBM. One day alone there were two semi-trailer trucks backed up at the Court's loading dock/receiving room waiting to unload 'evidence' IBM attornies planned to introduce. Naturally there had to be fifty copies of every document, no matter how many pages long it was. The Court had to put several employees on overtime for several months just to organize the mess that IBM dropped at their doorstep, and they never did get it all figured out. Spreadsheets, computer hardware schematics, software source code, you name it. Had AT&T done the same thing, the judge would still be sitting up reading at 2:00 AM every night trying to make sense of it all. :) But, what's past is past ... no use trying to change it now. PAT] ------------------------------ From: amp@pobox.com Date: Mon, 08 Dec 1997 19:29:27 -0500 Subject: Remembering Information Please Don't know if this is true, but it's a good story nonetheless. ************************************ Information Please When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember well the polished old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother used to talk to it. Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person - her name was Information Please and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anybody's number and the correct time. My first personal experience with this genie-in-the-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer. The pain was terrible, but there didn't seem to be any reason in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway - The telephone! Quickly I ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear. "Information Please", I said into the mouthpiece just above my head. A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear. "Information." "I hurt my finger. . ." I wailed into the phone. The tears came readily enough now that I had an audience. "Isn't your mother home?" came the question. "Nobody's home but me." I blubbered. "Are you bleeding?" "No," I replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts." "Can you open your icebox?" she asked. I said I could. "Then chip off a little piece of ice and hold it to your finger." After that I called Information Please for everything. I asked her for help with my geography and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math, and she told me my pet chipmunk I had caught in the park just the day before would eat fruits and nuts. And there was the time that Petey, our pet canary died. I called Information Please and told her the sad story. She listened, then said the usual things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was unconsoled. Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers, feet up on the bottom of a cage? She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, "Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in." Somehow I felt better. Another day I was on the telephone. "Information Please." "Information," said the now familiar voice. "How do you spell fix?" I asked. All this took place in a small town in the pacific Northwest. Then when I was 9 years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much. Information Please belonged in that old wooden box back home, and I somehow never thought of trying the tall, shiny new phone that sat on the hall table. Yet as I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me; often in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy. A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about half an hour or so between planes, and I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, "Information Please". Miraculously, I heard again the small, clear voice I knew so well, "Information." I hadn't planned this but I heard myself saying, "Could you tell me please how-to spell fix?" There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, "I guess that your finger must have healed by now." I laughed, "So it's really still you," I said. "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time." "I wonder, she said, if you know how much your calls meant to me. I never had any children, and I used to look forward to your calls." I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister. "Please do, just ask for Sally." Just three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered Information and I asked for Sally. "Are you a friend?" "Yes, a very old friend." "Then I'm sorry to have to tell you. Sally has been working part-time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago." But before I could hang up she said, "Wait a minute. Did you say your name was Paul?" "Yes." "Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down. Here it is I'll read it. 'Tell him I still say there are other worlds to sing in. He'll know what I mean'." I thanked her and hung up. I did know what Sally meant. ------------------------------------ Have you seen http://www.public-action.com/SkyWriter/WacoMuseum ------------------------------------ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Somewhere around 1959-60 in {Reader's Digest} is where your 'Information Please' appeared when I first saw it. It was at least 35 years ago, so pardon me if I do not recall the exact issue. :) In those days, {Reader's Digest} tended only to reprint things from other print media, so the story had to have been somewhere else before they got it. So it might be forty years old, but I have never used it here before that I can recall. Its a good, very warm story, and I enjoyed printing it here today but whether it is true or not is hard to say. I put it in the same category as the lady who had the dog tied to the telephone pole in the backyard and her phone did not work right unless the dog did his thing around the pole, and you know how that one went. I'd say Sally, if she existed, and what the heck, let's say she did, was a pretty typical Bell System employee. They were extremely bureaucratic, but extremely dedicated, and with *very* long memories where customer requirements and satisfaction was concerned. All the old timers could tell stories about service to customers that today would be hard to believe or match. As Charles Brown, former Chairman of AT&T and President of Illinois Bell once said during a particularly trying event in the divestiture process, "So when was the last time they (meaning MCI) sent two workers out to the mountains of Montana in January to restore service for a handful of customers whose cable had gotten broken in an ice storm, only to have the two workers slip in the ice and fall to their deaths down the side of a mountain?" "If I was selling only the east coast corridor traffic (where MCI was almost exclusively in its earliest days) and ignoring the farmers and the small town residence people then I could sell my service at cut rate prices also. Who is kidding who, anyway? ..." Indeed, the old Bell System workers were extremely dedicated. I wish the newcomers would at least learn from the examples of the pioneers. But thanks again for a marvelous story; I know most readers here had not seen it before. By the way, in the {Reader's Digest} version, he had not gone on a plane trip with time to spare and on a whim called Directory Assistance. In their version of the story he had gone back to his old home town to visit long-forgotten school chums, etc and he noticed the town was now on a dial rather than manual system. He picked up the phone, dialed '411' and got the same operator as he had gotten years earlier when it was a manual exchange. Also, he did not ask how to spell the word 'fix', but he asked some other question which triggered the operator's memory from years before, prompting her response about his injured finger. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V17 #344 ******************************